


Fools rush in

by woodsong_1978 (Vae)



Category: Firefly/Serenity
Genre: M/M, Threesome - M/M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2006-09-21
Updated: 2006-09-21
Packaged: 2017-12-07 18:37:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,119
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/751727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Vae/pseuds/woodsong_1978
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Unfinished (unlikely to be finished) beginning of a threesome series.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fools rush in

**Author's Note:**

> First post for my claim of Mal/Simon/Jayne over at [](http://30threesomes.livejournal.com/profile)[**30threesomes**](http://30threesomes.livejournal.com/). This will be linked to at least three other fics, building to the full M/S/J relationship. The "Fool" refers to the tarot card, and meanings of that. [](http://30threesomes.livejournal.com/profile)[](http://30threesomes.livejournal.com/)**30threesomes** mod, please let me know if this isn't threesome-y enough and I'll submit something else for the challenge!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Simon works out what he wants

It was only a month or so after leaving Mr. Universe's moon that she came to him for the last time. _It ain't working_ , she said. _We don't fit_ , she said. _We ain't good as more'n friends_ , she said.

Simon had to agree with her. Because even after everything they'd been through, Kaylee wasn't what he wanted. He wasn't entirely comfortable with what he wanted, but he wanted it. And it wasn't her.

In fact, it wasn't one person at all, and that was what worried him. For years, it had been River. River, and medical studies. River, and work at the hospital. And River. His beloved sister, his charge, his responsibility, his joy and his despair. River, the frustrated genius, bored at school, making trouble for her teachers, correcting the textbooks and pointing out flaws in logic. River, so excited to be accepted at the Alliance-sponsored Academy. River, tortured and broken, trapped inside her own mind, overrun by the thoughts of others. River, his sister. His care. His burden - willingly shouldered. 

He'd finally managed to extract her from the Academy where they'd mutilated her brain. For months afterwards, for over a year, she'd needed him desperately. Needed him to shelter her, to provide an emotional haven, to find the right combination of drugs to quiet her frantic emotions. Now, though...now, River was back in control. She didn't need him any more. Simon was glad for her, truly, but she wasn't the sister he remembered. Well, there was no reason she should be. They were both four years older, but it was more than that for River. She was not only incredibly intelligent; she was a living weapon, death personified in youthful grace - and a mind reader. Sometimes, she knew his thoughts even before he did. Maybe he should be asking her advice on this matter? No. There were some things a man didn't want to be discussing with his sister, and this was definitely one of them. Or maybe even two of them.

Simon dropped back onto his bunk, clutching at his head. Lǎo tiān yě, what was he to do?

It was really no surprise to discover that he was attracted to the captain. The man was tall, handsome, strong, and prone to feats of idiotic nobility. He'd taken Simon and River in when they'd desperately needed somewhere to hide, and saved both their lives more than once. Add to that an almost foolhardy courage, blind luck, dry (often twisted) humor, warm blue eyes and the tightest pants Simon had ever seen _any_ man wearing, and it was a foregone conclusion. Malcolm Reynolds wandered through Simon's thoughts with the same disregard for privacy he showed when walking around his ship, and frequently trespassed into dreams as well.

But...the mercenary? That one was a shock. Apart from the fact that Simon had never even considered the possibility of...wanting...more than one person at a time, Jayne Cobb was his exact opposite in many ways. Loud, crude, brute strength personified (with the emphasis on 'brute')...nothing like any of Simon's previous lovers. But...he was attractive. Deeply attractive, on a primal, animal level. His sheer physicality drew the eyes - well, Simon's eyes - whenever he entered a room. He never just stood, or sat. He slouched, or sprawled, or paced, buzzing with energy, muscles flexing with every movement. Zāo gāo, those muscles, and the things Simon wanted to do with them. It didn't seem to have anything whatsoever to do with scientific curiosity. It was pure lust - or was it? Was it lust that made him want to be surrounded by all that confidence? Or was it something a great deal less simple?

Well, whatever it was, it was something new. Something untried - for Simon, at least. Something that had been going on for quite long enough. Something that made him yearn, in different ways, for both men. Both...at the same time. Not one or the other, but both. Balanced. 

Simon stood up, took a deep breath, and resolved to stop just thinking. No matter what the results might be, it was time to _do_.

* * *

_**Translations:**_  
 _Lǎo tiān yě_ \- God, heavens  
 _Zāo gāo_ \- Damn  



	2. Fools rush in

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Mal ponders.

She'd left. Again. She'd left. This time, he'd actually swallowed his pride, and asked her not to. Asked her to stay. Made some crack about needing the rent, and then crumbled as liquid brown eyes demanded his honesty.

_It wouldn't work_ , she said. _You don't want me_ , she said. _You want to want the idea of me. There's something else you need. If you'll let yourself admit it._

There wasn't much he could say to that. She'd left.

Mal sighed, dropping the capture back to his desk. Weren't like it made so much difference, anyhow. So, he was alone. Been alone for a long damn while. Didn't matter how folks fooled themselves, they were always alone when it came down to it. A man had to be happy with his own company. He guessed a woman did, too, but had less personal experience of that.

Even the examples he'd seen on his ship, everyone ended up alone. Zoë and Wash, alone, Wash in his grave, Zoë in her grief. Simon and Kaylee, alone, Simon in his silence, Kaylee in her soft disappointment. Jayne, alone, after Book was killed by those tamade hundan back on Haven. And Mal, alone again, always alone, left alone by Inara, gone to be alone in a House full of faked Companionship.

Simon was trying to hide his alone-ness with his sister, but that was never working. River was the most alone creature in the 'verse, despite the voices in her head and the way she couldn't not know what you were thinking. Her lonesomeness wasn't company for Simon any more. He could tell by the nights he walked the ship and saw the doctor still in the infirmary, head drooped over some book or other, purple shadows staining the pale skin under his eyes.

Jayne reacted as he always had. Took his alone-ness to the company of his weights, tried to work it away. Was another thing he saw when he walked the nights, Jayne down in the bay, muscles flexing as he grunted his way through another set.

The two of them occupied Mal's mind more than he was comfortable with. Simon's silence, his shadows, his brittleness. Jayne's grunts, his determination, his flaring temper. Made him want to reach out to the pair of them. Not one, not the other. Both. Made him want to share Jayne's strength, ease Simon's tension.

They'd still be alone. But at least they'd each know the others were alone, too. And maybe they'd find a way to be alone together.


End file.
